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Since we first began offering book trailers to our Tate authors a couple of months back, one of the main questions I get is, "It looks great, but what do I do with it?" Book trailers are a relatively new way of promoting your book. The book industry is changing. The old school methods of attending trade shows is quickly going by the wayside. Our culture is quickly turning into one where exciting imagery and technology rules the day and makes the sale.
So where does one take his book trailer to be seen? For starters, I would recommend posting it to YouTube, which allows easy access for anyone to view and even leave a comment. If you have a Facebook or MySpace account, those are two other great social networking sites that have millions of subscribers. The accounts are simple to setup, and there are tons of great groups that you can join to help expand your networking. Make sure you place the direct link to your video page in all of your email signatures, and within the body of your email somehow.
Let's say you aren't so much into the online social networking. Is there hope for you? Yes! Every town should have a Chamber of Commerce meeting, where they allow residents to come and make presentations from time to time. This is a great place where you have an audience that is from your local area, will have a relationship with you, and be interested in finding out more about your book. The meeting room should have a setup that includes a projector, where you can play your book trailer (we can provide a DVD of your trailer for you to use), and then follow up with a short speech from yourself to connect even further with the other residents. Take a few books to sell, as well! In addition to the Chamber meetings, there are a ton of other meetings going on every day in every town. Rotary club, PTA, Optimist Club, etc.
Selling your book is your business, and it requires a lot of hard work. Mark Mingle recently wrote a great blog about this. Your book is your "product", and the book trailer is similar to its "commercial". Do a good job of selling your product to as many people as possible, and you will see results!
Paul Buckley/Ken Garduno: Light Boxes
2 days ago
9 comments:
Great points. Exactly why I have been telling people that the more multimedia you go, the more likely it is that your book will attract attention. We designed our website to be very movie-like, and already we have received preorders from around the world.
Thanks Melanie!
Thanks for the post. Sometimes I wonder just how much book trailers help, though they are fun to watch. But I can see how, through the scenarios you pointed out, a book trailer could actually help sell more books for an author. Good suggestions.
Good tips, Melanie, Thanks. I'm looking forward to my Book Trailer to use as a tool when my 2nd novel is released later this year.
If we sell a book on Amazon, is there a way to "attach" the book trailer to the book?
Hi Diane-
Currently, I do not believe Amazon supports that feature. Hopefully it will be available soon!
Melanie, look what I found! A book trailer promoting a book on Amazon! Go to this web page and scroll down just a bit and you'll see it: http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/1605297852/ref=pd_ts_b_16?ie=UTF8&s=books
Now it can be done!
Great find, Diane! We'll definitely be looking into these possibilities further with Amazon!
P.S. This is too funny...after watching my first book trailer on Amazon, I bought the book! Be careful, Melanie, you might buy it, too! :)
Hello again! We did some more research into Amazon.com and book trailers, and we've discovered that the videos we are seeing are not "book trailers", but are interviews with the author done exclusively by Amazon.com for their best sellers. Currently, they do not offer book trailer space to authors.
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